PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners next month will consider adding four roads in the SunLand subdivision north of Sequim to county road jurisdiction.
Commissioners on Monday discussed the addition of Blakely Boulevard, Cascadia Loop, Mendel Drive and Mount Baker Drive.
No commissioner objected to a road department recommendation to call a Nov. 5 public hearing on the transfer of ownership.
County Engineer Ross Tyler said the four roads, which are located in the northwest corner of the development off Sequim-Dungeness Way, are the only roads in SunLand that are not already part of the county system.
If the transfer is approved, the county would assume responsibility for seasonal maintenance, including snow plowing, sanding and stripe painting.
Clallam County many years ago agreed to take on SunLand’s roads if they were brought up to county standards, Tyler said.
The formal request to add the roads was made by Estes Builders owner Kevin Estes, whose Sequim-based company funded recent improvements to the roads.
Estes Builders designs and constructs custom homes throughout Clallam, Jefferson and Kitsap counties.
The county received a petition with 101 signatures from SunLand residents asking the county to take on the long-term maintenance.
“All of the people who live along those roads wanted to come into the system,” Tyler said.
When the county originally agreed to take on the roads in SunLand, the gas tax the county collected for each mile of new road met or exceeded the cost of maintenance.
“It was fashionable to get as many miles of road as you could,” Tyler said. “That’s kind of flipped over. Now it costs more to maintain it.”
Since Blakely Boulevard, Cascadia Loop, Mendel Drive and Mount Baker Drive were brought up to standard recently, Tyler said the maintenance should be minimal for “many, many years to come.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsula
dailynews.com.
